The News from ElephantToenails.com

Fellow ET Collectors

The News and our collector club are moving. Yes that’s right. We’ve got new digs over at iKnifeCollector with more room and a better location.

This decision won’t affect ET.com, only The News blog and our club. I’ll be blogging there on toenails from here on. Will leave up this blog and it’s archives.

iKnifeCollector offers the Elephant Toenail Collectors Club a better place to gather and talk. So, come join us there.

Oftentimes change is different, but in the long run iKC offers more advantages for our club and with greater capabilities than simply this blog format. We have our own forum too.

Come check iKnifeCollector out and once you join, look up under Groups on the main menu and find the Elephant Toenail Collectors Club. We’ll be waiting for you there.

Scott

A B Haines

Many of you may remember Mr. Haines as a big time toenail collector from years gone by. In fact, I interviewed him for us here at ET.com (See Old Timers on homepage main menu) back in Nov. 2002. While no longer chasing toenails, Mr. Haines remains passionate about collecting knives. Well, today I had the opportunity to visit with him by phone.

Mr. Haines called today after receiving a mailer from my company pertaining to some work were are doing in his hometown. We spoke and agreed to meet when I visit his town in the next few weeks. It was very refreshing to once again speak with a collector as enthusiastic about old knives and history as he is. I look forward to sitting down with him. I’ll probably take a few knives with me when I do.

Many of you many remember our fellow toenail collector, Russ Altamore. Russ passed away in 2005. Today, I was contacted by the executor of his estate about his knife book library.

It’s now on eBay. This set is an excellent jump start library.

Here’s the list-

* Pocketknife Trader’s Price Guide - Volume 5 by Jim Parker - very good condition with minor signs of wear
* Pocketknife Trader’s Price Guide - Volume 6 by Jim Parker - Looks to be in excellent condition
* American Premium Guide to Knives & Razors Identification and value guide by Jim Sargent - minor signs of wear
* The American Blade Collectors Association Price Guide to Antique Knives by J. Bruce Voyles - good condition - minor signs of wear
* Knife Album by Colonel Robert Mayes - great condition except for damage to front lower spine. Does not affect pages
* Price Guide to Pocket Knives 1890-1970 by Jacob N. Jarrett - Excellent condition
* Counterfeiting Antique Cutlery by Gerald Witcher - Used condition on front and rear cover - pages are in very good condition
* The Sword And Knife Makers Of Germany 1850-2000 - Vol 1 - A-L by Anthony Carter - Excellent condition
* The Knife Makers Who Went West by Harvey Platts - Excellent condition of book except for wear on the hard cover’s cover
* Cattaraugus Cutlery Co. Identification And Values by Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart - Excellent condition
* New England Cutlery by Philip R. Pankiewicz - Very good condition with light signs of wear
* The Best of Knife World Volume III  - Very good condition - very little signs of wear
* The Complete Book of Pocketknife Repair by Ben Kelley Jr. - Very good condition
* The Standard Knife Collector’s Guide Identification Values Fourth Edition by Roy Ritchie and Ron Stewart - Excellent condition
* The Standard Knife Collector’s Guide Third Edition Identification Values by Roy Ritchie and Ron Stewart - Torn front cover - pages are in good condition
* The International Price Guide To Antique Knives by J. Bruce Voyles - some wear - good condition
* Big Book Of pocket Knives Identication & Values by Ron Stewart & Roy Ritchie - Excellent condition
* International Blade Collector’s Association Price Guide to Commemorative Knives - 1960-1990 by J. Bruce Voyles - Excellent condition
* Levine’s Guide To Knives And Their Values - 4th Edition - torn front cover on lower side - 2 small tears in the botton first 2 pages.
* The Official 1981 Price Guide To Collector Knives - Third Edition by James F. parker and J. Bruce Voyles - Very good condition
* Twelfth Official Price Guide To Collector Knives by C. Houston Price - good condition but cover and some pages are bent. These can be pressed out

Got a pretty interesting, and in some cases, amusing conversation going over at the Elephant Toenail Collector Club at iKnifeCollector. One of our members asked me to post a question to the group pertaining to ideas for modernizing the toenail.

After you catch your breath, come stick your head in. It’s pretty interesting, plus A. G. Russell has now jumped into the mix.

At the risk of y’all stringing me up by my toenails here’s one idea I had.

A tactical toenail

You know we’ve had a hard time getting one of the traditional knife makers to produce the swellcenter today, so how about it going tactical? Then all the younger tactical guys (the majority of the buying market) would be a breath away from becoming bona fide toenail collectors, wouldn’t they? Bet a few would eventually cross over to the old ones too.

We’re just having a little fun, but I think the idea has legs. Can’t you just see ZT, RAT or Strider all producing them? I can. Heck, if the majority of collectors accept a sleeveboard style “toenail” as a toenail, then they’d accept these new models too.

There seems to be an attitude among some out in the collecting world that is sucking the fun out of our hobby. As harsh a statement as that is, it’s true. Another truth is maybe this attitude has been ’round since the beginning, don’t know. But I do know knife collecting is supposed to be fun.

What attitude am I talking about? It’s the attitude held by some collectors, oftentimes unconsciously, that a knife is bad until they decide it’s not.

Well, I don’t want to get burned

No, we don’t want to buy fakes. No, we don’t want to waste our hard-earned money. No, we don’t like being lied to by a dishonest seller. But have things gotten so bad we have to approach every old knife this way?

Just dial into the forums, not to pick on forums here cause it’s not really the place. Go anywhere old knives are talked about and you will smell this attitude reeking from the place. Yeah, I know we don’t have to go where that talk is, but my point is broader than that- what has happened to our hobby to cause so many folks to approach a knife as though it isn’t the real deal?

I can hear them now. Yes, I know we need to examine the knives. We need to do our due diligence, but my gracious.

Even the experts don’t agree

Without getting into credentials of collectors to make these judgements, let’s just say- Do you know how many times I have been involved with “experts” who have been in knives for 30 plus years and have handled thousands of knives and yet, they can’t even agree among themselves on whether a knife is right or not? Does that mean we just accept every knife as genuine? No, but there are many times the experts can’t even tell and yet, somehow we can be so certain.

But really I’m not talking about knives here; instead I am talking about attitudes. Predispositions.

What’s interesting to me is how easily and quickly it is for some folks to label a knife a fake. Personally, it seems there are too many arm chair experts out there who can unquantifiably make these determinations. Most of the time we only have pictures to look at. We even go as far as to say, and I’ve been guilty of this too, that if the pictures are poor or fuzzy the seller did that on purpose- to hide the knife’s defects.

So, what’s the big deal?

The problem with this rush to judgement is huge. Aside from branding a particular knife as a fake, and killing its salability, we’ve called the seller a fraud. Plus, we hurt antique knife collecting by unnecessarily scaring off new collectors and sucking the fun out of collecting old knives for others.

Just calling a spade a spade

Should we not call a spade a spade? Yes, we should. Should we not talk to our fellow collectors about the knife? That’s not my point. What I’m saying is there seems to be a common approach to old knives out there that saps the fun out of our hobby. That’s my point. It’s the attitude that a knife is bad, until it is later determined not to be. That’s my point.

Bottom line-

We are going to run into fakes out there, sure, but let’s not assume every knife we look at is and especially not just because it has something  uncharacteristic. And sometimes the seller is a crook, but something my Dad told me years ago- “Son, you are going to get screwed in life, but don’t assume everyone is out to screw you, cause if you do your life will be miserable.”

Part Two of How do you grade toenails with replaced handles?

I mentioned there were two pearl rehandled toenails up for sale on eBay right now. Here they are-

Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co (eBay #200362450831) & W R Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Bradford, Pa (eBay #200362439336)

I can hear the Purist now. But if you are looking for a replica of the older pearl toenails, rehandled knives definitely fit the bill.

HSB rehandled pearl toenail

W R Case Bradford rehandled pearl toenail

You want an interesting conversation- ask collectors of vintage knives about how they feel about rehandled knives. The purists won’t have anything to do with them, while the practicals say if the part is original to the knife then it is a collectible.

Well what about when it comes to pearl handles? Pretty hard to find replacement scales that are original. It is much easier to find bone. So, what do we do when an old pearl handled knife that has had its handles replaced with newer pearl handles?

One question that must be answered is “How do I know the knife originally had pearl handles and it is not a bone handled knife replaced with pearl?” That is difficult to determine in many cases. We have to go back and look at the old catalogs and billheads to determine if the knife was ever produced in pearl.

Then we must look at the pattern numbers on the knife to see if it matches the records, like the 8250 and 8251 Case stamp. Many old knives will not be that easy. Old records can be difficult to get our hands on.

We must also look at the maker of the knife. Were they known to produce toenails in lots of variations? If they did, then it is likely they made pearl toenails too. In the case of contract knives, the same applies. Again, many times we can conclude pearl toenails were likely to have been made.

You can see we can’t simply rush to judge here. We must do some digging. We do know pearl toenails are rare. Recently we looked at a pair of nice old pearl handles. The newer ones are fairly easy to spot. So, for toenail collectors, how do we value pearl handled knives with newer handles?

As far as I’m concerned, I do want original pearl handles, no doubt. These knives are right up there at the top in desirability and value. Toenails known to be authentic pearl toenails but had their scales replaced with newer handles are still desirable. It is going to be up to the collector as to if they see them as collectible and if they do how they value them. What about the toenails that can’t be nailed down to have been produced in pearl? Maybe that maker did or didn’t. We just can’t make a definitive determination. Again, I think it is going to come down to the preferences of each individual collector. Personally, I’m not going to not buy an old toenail with newer pearl solely because I don’t know for a fact that knife wasn’t ever produced in pearl. I’m a potential buyer, but it is going to be a function of the price.

Tomorrow, I’m going to post two pearl toenails that are for sale right now, so be thinking about your personal criteria and preferences- especially if you haven’t ever thought about it before.

I know many of the members of the Elephant Toenail Collector Club are also members of the iKnifeCollector collector community, so I felt it was only appropriate to address my recent post there entitled: Rites of Passage- Memoirs of a Knife Collector. If you previously read my post, you probably wondered what is going with me selling toenails from my collection.

If you didn’t read my post, I shared with iKC that I sold three toenails from my collection and what this sale signified in my life as a collector.

I feel obligated to provide my toenail friends here at ET.com additional information on my decision. First off, the “What” involves my three H. Boker toenails. I have a knife friend I have known probably as long as any other. Prior to collecting toenails I collected H. Bokers and met this collector while hunting the Bokers.

He is as passionate about these knives as we are about toenails. In fact, I would venture to say he owns the largest collection of old Bokers than anyone in the Country. Plus, he bought a large number of knives from me when I sold off my Boker collection.

So, here is how it went down- Over the years we have remained in touch. He would send me info on toenails he ran across while he hunted for old Bokers. He owns close to every pattern, except our favorite- elephant toenails. And while he never approached me directly about selling any of the old toenail Bokers, he did ask me to keep my eyes open, so I know he has been actively looking for many years.

Well, there is a discussion over at iKC where members post what knives they are looking for and, yes, he posted he was looking for any H. Boker toenail, particularly the bone and pearl handled varieties.

I can’t quite explain what happened, but when I read his post I simply felt it was the right thing to do. Yes, I felt compelled to sell him the three Boker toenails I owned.

Needless to say, I contacted my knife friend to tell him I would sell him those knives. He was a true gentleman about it. I gave him the price and he agreed. There was none of the typical haggling that is associated with knife trading, and I appreciate it because that sale was a bittersweet event in my knife collecting life. It represented the first sale of toenails from my collection that weren’t either duplicates or knives I had upgraded from.

I don’t share this with you, my dear toenail friends, in an attempt to evoke sympathy, not in the least bit. Instead, this sale to my knife friend gave me tremendous satisfaction, as I knew he would enjoy those knives probably more than I had.

Time to rally the troops, again- Please listen to this message from the Director of Communications of the American Knife & Tool Institute about the new threat to our knife rights.